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Because no one is above the law!Tue, 31 Mar 2015 20:37:41 +0000en-UShourly1ABCs of IRS Mess; Justice Dept. Is Tainted Toohttp://www.judicialwatch.org/bulletins/abcs-irs-mess-justice-dept-tainted/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/bulletins/abcs-irs-mess-justice-dept-tainted/#commentsMon, 23 Feb 2015 18:05:48 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?post_type=inv_bull&p=73957First published in the New York Post, January 29, 2015 At her confirmation hearings Wednesday, Loretta Lynch said she’s only “generally aware” of the Justice Department’s investigation of IRS targeting of conservative groups. As a service for our likely new attorney general, here’s a primer on why so many in Congress want a special counsel...

At her confirmation hearings Wednesday, Loretta Lynch said she’s only “generally aware” of the Justice Department’s investigation of IRS targeting of conservative groups.

As a service for our likely new attorney general, here’s a primer on why so many in Congress want a special counsel in the IRS case.

Under federal rules, the attorney general appoints a special counsel “when he or she determines that criminal investigation of a person or matter . . . would present a conflict of interest for the Department or other extraordinary circumstances.”

In this case, there’s both.

On May 14, 2013, the Treasury Department’s Inspector General reported that the IRS had “used inappropriate criteria that identified for review Tea Party and other organizations applying for tax-exempt status based upon their names or policy positions.”

Responding to the public outcry, Attorney General Eric Holder announced, “I have ordered an investigation to be begun. The FBI is coordinating with the Justice Department to see if any laws were broken.”

Problem is, Justice had long been interested in IRS investigations of tax-exempt groups.

Back in October 2010, the head of Justice’s Election Crimes Branch, Richard Pilger, met with IRS Exempt Organizations Director Lois Lerner — the woman at the center of the affair.

As Pilger later told House investigators, the meeting came at the request of Jack Smith, the director of Justice’s powerful Public Integrity Section.

It was one month before the 2010 midterm elections. The Tea Party was on the rise. Democrats were arguing that the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United that January had unleashed a torrent of campaign spending.

Within weeks of the Citizens United ruling, according to the Treasury IG’s report, a Cincinnati-based IRS unit under Lerner’s direction began searching for tax-exemption requests involving the words “Tea Party” and other “political sounding names.”

So Lerner had been at work for months when she met with Pilger that October 2010. He told investigators that the meeting was to explore being “more vigilant to the opportunities from more crime” in the tax-exempt organizations area.

Lerner’s agenda was clear. Days after the meeting with Pilger, she addressed the Citizens United decision in a talk at Duke University.

“They want the IRS to fix the problem,” Lerner said. “So everybody is screaming at us right now: ‘Fix it before the [2010 midterm] election. Can’t you see how much these people are spending?’”

The October 2010 events are significant. They establish high-level Justice Department interest in IRS targeting of conservative groups.

The events also set a partisan political context to the Justice and IRS actions: Everyone — meaning, everyone in liberal Democratic circles — is screaming at us right now to fix Citizens United.

Three years later, Pilger and Lerner were still at it. In a May 2013 e-mail uncovered by Judicial Watch, Lerner discussed with a colleague a call from Pilger on the thoughts of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) about building “false-statement cases” against tax-exempt groups.

Whitehouse’s “idea,” Lerner wrote, was “that DoJ could piece together false-statement cases about applicants who ‘lied’ on their [tax-exempt applications].” She added, “DoJ is feeling like it needs to respond.”

Smith and Pilger aren’t the only Justice Department officials with conflicts of interest in the IRS case.

Another sign that Justice has a conflict of interest here is the woman tapped to lead its IRS investigation: Barbara Bosserman of the department’s Civil Rights Division. She has no apparent experience in cases where high-level political wrongdoing is at issue.

And she gave almost $7,000 to President Obama’s political campaigns and the Democratic National Committee. In 2009, according to Fox News, she attended a White House event hosted by the president.

Then there’s Andrew Strelka. Working in Justice’s Tax Division, he represented the IRS in two civil cases related to the targeting of tax-exempt groups, including a Freedom of Information battle with Judicial Watch. And before Justice, he worked for the IRS in Lois Lerner’s Exempt Organizations division.

“I cherished my time in the EO family,” Strelka e-mailed Lerner, “and I owe a big thanks to you for hiring me.”

Strelka’s ties to Lerner were so strong that both Treasury and Justice interviewed him in their IRS probes. But when he was defending the IRS in targeting matters, he failed to disclose to the judge or opposing counsel his ties to the IRS and Lerner.

The involvement of Smith, Pilger, Bosserman and Strelka all point to conflicts of interest for the Justice Department in the case.

Lynch should also weigh the statements of President Obama.

In December 2013, he waved off concerns about IRS pressure on his political opponents, saying a “bureaucratic . . . list” drawn up in “an office in Cincinnati” was the cause of Tea Party targeting. The next February, he said on Fox News that there was “not even a smidgen of corruption” in the IRS targeting affair.

In fact, we still don’t know how far up the political food chain the malfeasance goes. Among other things, investigators are still pouring through tens of thousands of e-mails uncovered months after the IRS had insisted they were lost.

But we do know the Justice Department investigation has been compromised, not least by the president announcing its conclusions before the probe is complete.

Lynch should move fast to restore an aura of independence and impartiality to the investigation by turning it over to a special counsel.

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released new internal Department of Justice (DOJ) documents revealing that the Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel’s office delayed approval of an IRS employee’s meeting with DOJ and FBI investigators into the Obama IRS targeting scandal. The emails also detail the involvement the Public Integrity Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division with the investigation. The documents show, the Public Integrity Section was investigating the IRS scandal only a month after it reached out to Lois Lerner about prosecuting targeted tax-exempt entities. This is the first window into the criminal investigation of the alleged IRS abuses.

The Public Integrity Section previously has been tied to an effort to work with the Obama IRS in an effort to prosecute the very groups and individuals critical of the Obama administration and the president’s reelection that the IRS has admitted to illicitly targeting.

Any and all records concerning meetings and/or communications between the Department of Justice Criminal Division Public Integrity Section and the Internal Revenue Service Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division, the White House, Members of Congress and/or congressional staff, and any non-government entity, regarding 501(c)(4) or other tax-exempt organizations.

The emails show that, on June 12, 2013, the lawyer for a cooperating IRS employee in Cincinnati complained to a DOJ prosecutor about the IRS Counsel’s office delaying approval of a meeting between the IRS employee and Justice Department prosecutors: “[W]e find it amazing that they didn’t immediately respond giving us the green light to meet with you.”

The DOJ prosecutor wanted to know who the contact in the IRS Counsel’s office was and wrote back: “Let’s talk in am if they don’t get back to you. Thanks.”

The new emails suggest that investigators had wanted to meet quickly but it was nearly a month before the unnamed IRS employee met to proffer evidence to two Justice Department prosecutors, two FBI officials, and an investigator from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The proffer session seems to have taken place in the IRS’ Cincinnati office on July 11, 2013, and included the IRS employee’s attorney, who the documents suggest works at the Cincinnati area law firm Adams, Stepner, Woltermann & Dusing PLLC. The documents detail that the proffer took place after a Garrity immunity waiver was secured for the IRS witness. Garrity immunity assures the right of public employees not to be compelled to incriminate themselves.

The email exchanges show that a trial attorney from the Public Integrity Section was partnered with an unnamed attorney from the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department.

Barbara Bosserman, an attorney at the Civil Rights Division, has been reported to be leading the IRS investigation at Justice. The DOJ, in court filings in another Judicial Watch lawsuit about Bosserman’s role in the case, confirmed that she is one of the attorneys investigating the IRS matter. According to Federal Election Commission records, Bosserman contributed $6,750 to Obama’s campaigns and the DNC from 2004 to 2012, including 12 separate contributions to Obama for America between 2008 and 2012.

William J. Wilkins, the Chief Counsel for the IRS, is a political appointee of President Obama’s. Wilkins was a former Democratic staffer the U.S Senate, a donor to Democratic candidates and committees, and was a lobbyist for several years. The May 14, 2013, Treasury Inspector General report that revealed that the IRS had singled out groups with conservative-sounding terms such as “patriot” and “Tea Party” in their titles when applying for tax-exempt status details that the “Chief Counsel” was involved in the IRS’s Tea Party and conservative targeting.

In this second “rolling production,” the Justice Department released 34 pages of heavily redacted emails, while admitting that it had reviewed 938 pages of responsive records related to its contacts with the IRS concerning the criminal prosecution of targeted tax exempt entities. As of today’s date, the DOJ has reviewed 1,772 pages of records in this case, but only produced 36 heavily redacted pages. Held in their entirety are 1,736 pages.

The new documents also provide detail on what the investigators were examining and the nature of the documents it wanted from the IRS witness. On July 12, 2013, the DOJ attorney (whose name is blacked out) emails:

First, we would appreciate receiving the time line related to the “TAG spreadsheet” and “BOLO” that [REDACTED] prepared. As we stated, that timeline will be covered by the proffer agreement she executed yesterday …

Second, we would also appreciate obtaining the email communications that you obtained from [REDACTED-BLACKED OUT] pertaining to the 501(c)-application issues we discussed yesterday, i.e., the public allegations that the IRS “targeted” certain groups based on their political viewpoints, in particular groups associated with the ‘Tea Party.” As I explained yesterday, due to the filter procedures we have in place, could you please divide the communications into two groups, those dated before and those dated on or after March 1, 2012? To the extent practical, the emails dated on or after March 1, 2012, should be placed in a sealed envelope or otherwise clearly separated from the first batch (i.e., if they are scanned and emailed, please do so in separate files). To the extent any of these applications contain taxpayer information, return information, and/or taxpayer return information, the Department of Justice and the FBI have referral authority under 18 U.S.C. 6103(h) to view this information by virtue of our participation in a joint investigation with TIGTA.

The documents do not detail why the emails needed to be “filtered” according to the March 1, 2012, date, though there is a reference to Justice Department “filter team” elsewhere in the material.

“The IRS scandal is getting worse. These documents show that the Obama IRS Counsel’s office, run by an Obama political appointee, was stonewalling a federal criminal investigation. And only in the Holder Justice Department would it be deemed appropriate that the offices implicated in the IRS abuses should investigate the IRS abuses,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “And one might wonder why the Justice Department was so quick to offer an immunity deal to an IRS employee. This is an ugly mess and it is no surprise that, after nearly two years, the criminal investigation of the Obama IRS by its co-conspirators at the Obama Justice Department is widely acknowledged as a farce.”

In early December 2014, Judicial Watch released the first batch of internal DOJ documents revealing that former IRS official Lois Lerner had been in contact with DOJ officials about the possible criminal prosecution of tax-exempt entities two full years before what the IRS conceded was its “absolutely inappropriate” 2012 targeting of the organizations. According to the documents, Lerner met with top Obama DOJ Criminal Division officials as early as October 2010.

In April 2014, Judicial Watch forced, through a federal court order, the release of IRS documents revealing that the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section reached out to former IRS official Lois Lerner on May 8, 2013, about whether it was possible to criminally prosecute targeted tax-exempt entities. The documents were obtained as a result of an October 2013 Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuit filed against the IRS.

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/new-documents-offer-glimpse-criminal-investigation-obama-irs-scandal/feed/1Judicial Watch Sues Pentagon and State Department over Secrecy on Bergdahl Terrorist Swaphttp://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-sues-pentagon-state-department-secrecy-bergdahl-terrorist-swap/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-sues-pentagon-state-department-secrecy-bergdahl-terrorist-swap/#commentsTue, 27 Jan 2015 19:46:10 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?post_type=press_release&p=73664Judicial Watch announced today that on November 18, 2014, it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense seeking “any ‘determinations’” made by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that the five Guantanamo terrorists traded for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl were “no longer a threat to U.S. national security.”

]]>(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that on November 18, 2014, it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense seeking “any ‘determinations’” made by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that the five Guantanamo terrorists traded for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl were “no longer a threat to U.S. national security.” The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judicial Watch v Department of Defense (No. 1:14-cv-01935)).

Judicial Watch also announced today that on January 2, 2015, it filed a FOIA lawsuit against the U.S. State Department seeking access to the bilateral Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Qatar relating to the terrorist release. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judicial Watch v Department of State (No.1:15-cv-00003)).

Bergdahl left his post and was held captive by the Taliban-aligned Haqqani network in Afghanistan from June 2009 until May 2014. The circumstances surrounding Bergdahl’s disappearance and subsequent capture have become the subject intense controversy. He was released on May 31, 2014, as part of a prisoner exchange by the Obama administration for five Taliban terrorist leaders who were held at the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. NBC News reports today that Bergdahl will indeed be charged with desertion, but is likely to face no jail time.

Federal law states that the Secretary of Defense can transfer or release a Guantanamo detainee to a foreign country only if “if the Secretary determines, following a review…that the individual is no longer a threat to the national security of the United States.” (Section 1035 (a) (1) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, which was signed into law by President Obama on December 26, 2013.) Judicial Watch sued the Pentagon in November 2014 after it refused to comply with Judicial Watch’s June 3, 2014, FOIA request for the Secretary Hagel’s reviews of the national security threats posed by the detainees he released.

The Judicial Watch lawsuit was filed against the State Department after the agency ignored a FOIA request filed on June 3, 2014, seeking access to the following:

The bilateral memorandum of understanding between the United States and Qatar relating to the release from U.S. custody of five detainees held at the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in exchange for the return of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

Judicial Watch now has filed four lawsuits relating to the controversy surrounding the Bergdahl-terrorist trade. In November 2014 Judicial Watch filed two FOIA lawsuits against the Pentagon and the State Department to obtain records concerning arrangements made between the U.S. government with third parties or another state regarding agreements and monetary payments to secure Bergdahl’s release.

Reuters reported that the Taliban commanders released by the Obama administration are dangerous:

All five prisoners were classed as “high-risk” and “likely to pose a threat” by the Pentagon and held senior positions in the Taliban regime before it was topped by a U.S. led coalition in 2001.

At least two of them are suspected of committing war-crimes, including the murder of thousands of Afghan Shi’ites, according to leaked U.S. military cables.

Earlier, in an August 22, 2014, a Judicial Watch Corruption Chronicles article reported that the Obama administration violated “clear and unambiguous” law when it made the highly controversial, secret exchange:

The nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), confirmed this week that the president broke a “clear and unambiguous”law when he swapped the high-level terrorists for Bowe Bergdahl, an Army sergeant who went AWOL in Afghanistan in 2009. According to rules issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the violation is serious and can carry severe consequences. They include fines, imprisonment, administrative discipline, suspension from duty without pay or removal from office, the rules specifically state …

…Congress must be notified before acts of this magnitude are committed and the president completely disregarded the legislative branch. In fact the Department of Defense (DOD) failed to notify Congress at least 30 days in advance of the exchange, a flagrant violation of the law, and misused nearly $1 million of a wartime account to make the transfer, the GAO report says. The DOD used appropriated funds to carry out the transfer when no money was available for that purpose, congressional investigators found. This means the DOD violated a measure known as the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits federal agencies from incurring obligations exceeding an amount available in appropriation.

The apparent violation of the Antideficiency Act carries potential criminal penalties. The GAO’s summary of the penalties for violating the law notes:

Federal employees who violate the Antideficiency Act are subject to two types of sanctions: administrative and penal. Employees may be subject to appropriate administrative discipline including, when circumstances warrant, suspension from duty without pay or removal from office. In addition, employees may also be subject to fines, imprisonment, or both.

“[S]hall be subject to appropriate administrative discipline including, when circumstances warrant, suspension from duty without pay or removal from office.”

In addition, an officer or employee who “knowingly and willfully” violates any of the three provisions cited above “shall be fined not more than $5,000, imprisoned for not more than 2 years, or both.

The Daily Beast exclusively reported this week about yet another possible terrorist swap involving Qatar, the country that served as the middleman in the Bergdahl terrorist exchange:

The proposed swap involving the al Qaeda agent, Ali Saleh Al-Marri, raises troubling questions about whether the Bergdahl trade opened a kind of Pandora’s box, signaling to foreign governments that they can pressure the United States to make concessions on terrorism by trading American prisoners abroad for dangerous extremists held in the United States.

Al-Marri was released by the Obama administration last week and allowed to leave the country, despite his being a “sleeper” al-Qaeda terrorist who had been sent to the United States by Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the 9/11 mastermind. As National Review’s Andrew McCarthy notes, Al-Marri was supposed “to await instructions on carrying out a second wave of attacks after the 9/11 atrocities – against water reservoirs, the New York Stock Exchange, U.S. military academies, and other targets.”

“The American people deserve to know precisely how the Obama administration arrived at the decision to release five brutal terrorist leaders in exchange for a possible deserter, and how it determined the terrorist leaders were no longer a threat to U.S. security,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “As far back in 2010, we reported that the Director of National Intelligence had revealed that 150 former Gitmo detainees were confirmed or suspected of ‘reengaging in terrorist or insurgent activities after transfer.’ Now there is public concern that terrorists and unfriendly states will take hostages to force the release of more terrorists. These new FOIA lawsuits show that the Obama administration is once again in cover-up mode – about a scandal that involves not only national security but also criminal conduct by the top leadership of the Obama administration.”

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-sues-pentagon-state-department-secrecy-bergdahl-terrorist-swap/feed/0Obama Administration Refuses to Release Time Records of Key Attorney in IRS Scandal Investigationhttp://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/obama-administration-refuses-release-time-records-key-attorney-irs-scandal-investigation/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/obama-administration-refuses-release-time-records-key-attorney-irs-scandal-investigation/#commentsTue, 27 Jan 2015 16:57:56 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?post_type=press_release&p=73655Judicial Watch announced today that the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) is going to extreme lengths to keep from the public the number of hours DOJ Attorney Barbara Bosserman expended on the investigation of the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative organizations.

]]>Judicial Watch Asks Court to Force Justice Department to Release Number of Hours Worked on Criminal Inquiry into Obama IRS Abuses

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) is going to extreme lengths to keep from the public the number of hours DOJ Attorney Barbara Bosserman expended on the investigation of the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative organizations. The DOJ has claimed no less than four separate privileges in federal court to keep secret Bosserman’s hours. In doing so, the DOJ has confirmed that the criminal investigation into the IRS’ abuses is ongoing and that Bosserman, a major donor to Obama’s political campaigns and Democratic National Committee, continues to be part of the team of lawyers criminally investigating the issue. The developments come in a lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch against the Justice Department to obtain the information about Bosserman’s activities.

In a January 14, 2015, legal filing, Judicial Watch lawyers not only asked the court to reject the Justice Department’s secrecy arguments but to review the documents at issue itself and rule summarily for Judicial Watch. The lawsuit is before U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell and is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Judicial Watch, Inc. vs. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:14-cv-01024)). Judicial Watch notes in its filing:

[Judicial Watch] does not seek information describing the type of work Ms. Bosserman conducted. Nor does it seek information about how she spent her time. Nor does it seek Ms. Bosserman’s notes about locations visited, persons consulted, staff briefings, and other case developments. Again, [Judicial Watch] solely seeks information about the number of hours Ms. Bosserman expended on the aforementioned criminal investigation. Nevertheless, Defendant claims everything but the kitchen sink in its effort to withhold the time records in their entirety.

In early January 2014, Bosserman was reportedly appointed by Attorney General Eric Holder to oversee the DOJ/ FBI investigation despite her substantial political activities. According to Federal Election Commission records, Bosserman contributed $6,750 to Obama’s campaigns and the DNC from 2004 to 2012, including 12 separate contributions to Obama for America between 2008 and 2012. In a strongly worded letter to Holder, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chairman Darryl Issa (R-CA) called the Bosserman appointment “a startling conflict of interest [that has] compromised the Administration’s investigation of the IRS.”

All Justice Department records from the Interactive Case Management System [a web-based system for storing and accessing information about contacts, calendars, cases, documents, time tracking, and billing, etc.] detailing the number of hours DOJ Attorney Barbara Bosserman expended on the investigation of the Internal Revenue Service targeting conservative organizations seeking tax-exempt status in the 2010 and 2012 elections cycles.

Despite this request for limited information, it took the DOJ five months to reject Judicial Watch’s request, writing in a letter on June 26, 2014, that releasing the information would be an “unwarranted invasion” of Ms. Bosserman’s privacy. Prior to receiving that response, Judicial Watch sued the Justice Department under the Freedom of Information Act.

In November 2014, the Justice Department filed a Motion for Summary Judgment in which DOJ lawyers confirm Ms. Bosserman’s involvement in the investigation but state that, “there is no public interest served by revealing Ms. Bosserman’s time records … as Ms. Bosserman is only one member of a larger investigative team.” This characterization seems at odds with statements by the Department of Justice, administration witnesses, Congress, and press reports that Ms. Bosserman, a senior legal counsel in the Civil Rights Division, is leading the investigation.

The DOJ’s legal brief included a declaration by Justice Department FOIA official Nelson D. Hemilla that states under “penalty of perjury”:

The Justice Department is currently conducting a criminal investigation into alleged misconduct by IRS employees in connection with their handling of applications for tax-exempt status by certain organizations. The investigation is being conducted by career civil servants in the Civil Rights Division and the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division, as well as agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.”

(Curiously, the Obama Justice Department’s November 2014 legal filing that describes its limited investigation of improper IRS targeting does not acknowledge that “certain organizations” at issue in the IRS matter were Tea Party, conservative, or opposed to President Obama’s policies.)

Separate Judicial Watch lawsuits forced the release of IRS and Justice Department documents that implicate the Justice Department, its Public Integrity Section, and Obama supporters in Congress in the IRS abuse scandal. These Judicial Watch disclosures also led to the discovery by Congress that the FBI had obtained, illegally, over a million pages of IRS files. Under Justice Department regulations:

The Attorney General, or in cases in which the Attorney General is recused, the Acting Attorney General, will appoint a Special Counsel when he or she determines that criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted and–(a) That investigation or prosecution of that person or matter by a United States Attorney’s Office or litigating Division of the Department of Justice would present a conflict of interest for the Department or other extraordinary circumstances; and (b) That under the circumstances, it would be in the public interest to appoint an outside Special Counsel to assume responsibility for the matter.”

“All Judicial Watch wants is the number of hours that the Obama donor/Justice Department lawyer has spent investigating the worst IRS abuse in American history,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “That the Justice Department has violated the law to keep this information secret is further confirmation that President Obama’s Justice Department is hopelessly conflicted in the IRS scandal. Thanks to Judicial Watch, the public knows that the Justice Department and the FBI are co-conspirators with the IRS – and planned to prosecute citizens on Obama’s political hit list. Obama’s IRS abuse is far worse than Nixon’s. And as with Watergate, the public interest and basic legal ethics principles require that the U.S. Attorney General appoint special counsel to investigate the IRS scandal. The U.S. Senate should ask Loretta Lynch, the president’s nominee to replace the disgraced Eric Holder as U.S. Attorney General, about this issue.”

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/obama-administration-refuses-release-time-records-key-attorney-irs-scandal-investigation/feed/2Obama’s Enemies Listhttp://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/weekly-updates/obamas-enemies-list/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/weekly-updates/obamas-enemies-list/#commentsFri, 19 Dec 2014 22:46:48 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?post_type=weekly_update&p=68651President’s Political Junkets Continue Unabated Who is On the Obama Enemies List? Judicial Watch Sues to Find Out. The President from ACORN President’s Political Junkets Continue Unabated It has become a tiresome, tedious – and costly – routine. Hollywood calls with a passel of cash, and President Obama comes running – at great expense to...

It has become a tiresome, tedious – and costly – routine. Hollywood calls with a passel of cash, and President Obama comes running – at great expense to taxpayers – to fill up his political coffers. That’s what we discovered anew after obtaining records from the U.S. Department of the Air Force highlighting yet another Obama fundraising trip to Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. These documents came to us in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed on October 20, 2014. Instead of advancing the nation’s interests and keeping the public trust, the president is instead, once again, using taxpayer money to subsidize lavish political junkets.

On October 9, Obama attended a ritzy fundraiser hosted by Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow in Los Angeles. Obama also attended “a $15,000-per person ‘roundtable’ discussion fundraiser for the DNC on Friday morning at the home of restaurateur Michael Chow and his wife Eva, a fashion designer.”

Then he went to San Francisco for two more fundraisers, including one at a “private home.” The AP reported that “the event, his fourth California fundraiser in three days, is closed to media coverage.”

According to the newly released records JW obtained, transportation for Obama to Los Angeles, California, on October 9, 2014, for the Paltrow fundraiser cost taxpayers $1,011,051.30. Transportation for Obama to San Francisco, California on October 10, 2014, fundraiser cost taxpayers an additional $165,069.60.

Obama’s fundraiser at the home of Paltrow marked his thirtieth Los Angeles fundraiser since he took office – though his July fundraiser at the home of Michael Rapino had been billed as “the last trip to Los Angeles the president will be making this year,” according to KCAL TV. With the threat of a Republican sweep of Senate seats, however, Hollywood again opened its coffers in another attempt to raise money for the Democratic National Committee a month out from mid-term elections. The fundraiser at the home of A-list actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who also held a fundraising event for Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, came with a price tag of up to $32,400 per attendee.

While Obama benefits financially from the allure of Hollywood, some of the comments made by his host proved to be more than a little embarrassing. Paltrow showed an apparent disregard (or perhaps lack of understanding) for the constitutional separation of powers when at one point she gushed, “It would be wonderful if we were able to give this man all of the power that he needs to pass the things that he needs to pass.” Even the editors at TMZ, a popular celebrity gossip news site, gave Paltrow and Obama a harsh tongue-lashing for that comment. “It’s the latest example of how demeaning it has become for Presidents to act like circus animals – performing for crowds that will feed them…” TMZ editors concluded, “…the celebrity circus has sullied the Presidency of the United States.”

Even as Obama postures as a champion of average Americans, he continues to run up excessive tabs for taxpayer-funded political junkets. Over the Labor Day Weekend, for example, Obama ran up a total of $1,539,402.10 in taxpayer-paid transportation expenses.

The trip began in Westchester, New York, on Friday, August 29. While in New York, Obama attended two fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee, one of them a BBQ at the home of millionaire and former UBS CEO Robert Wolf. Obama later that day took off for Providence, Rhode Island, for a fundraiser at the plush private residence of former Nortek CEO Richard Bready and Betty Easton, where tickets cost up to $32, 400. Although the president was initially scheduled to fly back to Westchester, New York, that Friday night, and then return to D.C. after attending the Saturday wedding of White House chef Sam Kass to MSNBC host Alex Wagner, he made some very costly last minute changes. Instead, according to White House press secretary Josh Ernst, Obama flew back to Washington on Friday to “sleep in his own bed, do a little work… spend time with his family ….” Then he flew back to New York on Saturday – at a cost total of $295,227.80 more in taxpayer-paid flight expenses. And that is nearly six times what the average American makes in a year – an amount which, critics would argue not so coincidentally, has actually fallen 8% since Obama became president.

Taxpayers are being gouged by President Obama for unnecessary travel for political fundraising and vacations. There needs to be a reconsideration of the longstanding taxpayer subsidy that forces our nation’s military and Secret Service into the service of political parties and candidates. Prior presidents – Republican and Democrat – also made 30 plus trips on Air Force One for fundraising activities. Reimbursement by the parties and candidates for the tremendous costs to taxpayers is ridiculously low – just relatively modest airfare and money for hotel, food. It is a scam and the actual process for billing is secret, as the AP reports, in the most transparent White House in history:

When a presidential trip includes multiple stops, some of them for political events and some for official purposes, then travel costs get divided up between the campaign and the government. But following a decades-old White House tradition, Obama aides declined to share details on how that’s done.

This is an area ripe for reform, which JW hopes its works can further. Could you imagine an easier issue to unite Democrats and Republicans than the notion of requiring politicians to more fairly reimburse our decimated Defense Department and barely functional Secret Service for those agencies precious services that turns the President of the United States into the traveling Barnum and Bailey of political fundraising?

In the meantime, President Obama will abuse his presidential perks further by going to Hawaii for a 17 day “working vacation.” JW found that one prior Christmas vacation for Obama cost you and your grandchildren – and their grandchildren – $4,086,355.20 for flights alone! Try not to think of how our country is going further into debt as you enjoy your Christmas.

Your JW is the best source for details on Air Obama. A complete rundown of First Family vacations and junkets is available here.

Who is On the Obama Enemies List? Judicial Watch Sues to Find Out.

We are pleased to announce that Judicial Watch has joined forces with investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed jointly against the Department of Justice (DOJ). We want “any and all records” relating to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background checks on the award-winning correspondent. The request includes correspondence between Attkisson and FBI agents.

According to documents obtained by Judicial Watch one month ago, the DOJ and the White House targeted the former CBS correspondent as a result of her investigations into the growing Operation Fast and Furious scandal. In an October 4, 2011, email to White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz, Attorney General Eric Holder’s top press aide, Tracy Schmaler, described Attkisson as “out of control.” Schmaler added ominously, “I’m also calling Sharryl’s [sic] editor and reaching out to Scheiffer” (an apparent reference to CBS’ Chief Washington Correspondent and Face the Nation moderator Bob Scheiffer). Schultz responded, “Good. Her piece was really bad for the AG.”

“Any and all records concerned, regarding or relating to Sharyl Attkisson. Such records include, but are not limited to, records of background checks of Sharyl Attkisson, records of communications, contacts, or correspondence between Sharyl Attkisson and employees, officials or agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and records of investigations concerning or regarding Sharyl Attkisson as a victim…”

Operation Fast and Furious, you will recall, was a Justice Department/Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) “gun-running” operation in which the Obama administration allowed guns to go to Mexican drug cartels in hopes that they would end up at crime scenes, thereby advancing gun-control policies. Fast and Furious weapons have been implicated in the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and hundreds of other innocents in Mexico. Attorney General Eric Holder has already admitted that guns from the Fast and Furious scandal are expected to be used in criminal activity on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border for years to come.

Attkisson, who in 2012 won both the Emmy and the Edward R. Murrow awards for investigative reporting, first began reporting on Fast and Furious in February 2011 when she broke the story, “Gunrunning scandal uncovered at the ATF.” Since then, she has filed more than 100 stories relating to the gunrunning debacle, many of which were exclusive reports. In her new book, “Stonewalled,” Attkisson reported that she had received inside information from government-related sources that the FBI, among other government agencies had hacked into both her personal and work computers over a lengthy period of time.

The Fast and Furious lawsuit we have filed jointly filed with Attkisson is not the first collaborative effort. In August 2014, we teamed with Attkisson to file a FOIA lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services to obtain records pertaining to the failed roll-out of President Obama’s health care law. In May 2014, Judicial Watch released a 106-page document obtained from HHS, revealing that on its first full day of operation, Obamacare’s Healthcare.gov received only one enrollment. The document also revealed that on the second day of Healthcare.gov operation, 48% of registrations failed.

JW is proud to represent Sharyl Attkisson, a fiercely independent journalist, who has a demonstrated track-record of refusing to play the Washington media insiders’ game that covers up or covers over public corruption stories such as Fast and Furious. We know from the emails we have already obtained that the Holder Justice Department sought to silence this courageous reporter. Now, we need to find out just how far they went.

“I am pleased to once again partner with Judicial Watch, which is unmatched in terms of success in litigating Freedom of Information claims against the federal government, whether under Bush or Obama,” added Sharyl Attkisson in our press statement on the new lawsuit. “That I’ve had to sue to get my own FBI file is concerning. This administration has a terrible record in respecting the First Amendment rights of journalists.”

A QUICK FOOTNOTE: There are many added dimensions to the Fast and Furious scandal that continue to come to light thanks to JW’s efforts. We have found, for example, that based on the information uncovered through a Judicial Watch public records lawsuit against the City of Phoenix, Congress has confirmed that an AK 47 rifle used in a July 29, 2013, gang-style assault on an apartment building that left two people wounded was part of the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) Operation Fast and Furious gunrunning program.

And just as we went to press with this Weekly Update, we released graphic crime scene photos taken at the site of the assault in Phoenix. This includes a close-up photo revealing the serial number of the AK-47 rifle used by the assailants. Stayed tuned as we will continue provide updates on this deadly Obama administration scandal.

The President from ACORN

Remember ACORN? That’s the nationwide network of community organizing groups Judicial Watch helped expose for organizing and implementing a plethora of voter fraud schemes and financial misappropriation exercises that undoubtedly helped put President Obama in office. It’s the group for which Obama once served as an attorney and to which he proudly boasted, “I’ve been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career.” Despite a 5-year-old congressional ban on federal funding for the notably corrupt Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and new offshoots, JW has now obtained documents that show a sizeable amount of taxpayer money went to an affiliate serving as Obamacare “Navigators.” My report to you here is based on our exclusive report that first appeared at our essential Corruption Chronicles blog.

Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) violated the ACORN funding ban by awarding a Louisiana nonprofit called Southern United Neighborhoods (SUN) a hefty $1.3 million Obamacare Navigator grant to recruit customers for the president’s disastrous healthcare law and help them sign-up for its costly and complicated insurance exchanges. Headquartered in New Orleans, SUN was founded with former ACORN members and claims on its website that it is dedicated to combating poverty, discrimination and community deterioration – all with your tax dollars, no less.

Not-so-coincidentally, the group shares its address—and government grants—with another like-minded nonprofit called United Labor Unions Council Local 100. Local 100 was established by Wade Rathke, the radical left-wing community organizer who also founded ACORN. It’s not clear in the documents obtained by JW how much of the $1.3 million HHS grant actually went to Rathke’s local, which is one of SUN’s four partner organizations. But the point remains that the group is an ACORN successor specifically proscribed by federal law from receiving taxpayer dollars. But receive these illicit monies it does – at the pleasure and for the benefit of the Obama administration.

According to an investigative report by National Review, “Local 100 is a ‘sub-grantee’ providing Navigators for the Southern United Neighborhoods group.” Other organizations profiting handsomely from the Navigator boondoggle, by the way, include the National Urban League, which was paid $376,000 for its Obamacare outreach in Texas, as well as such leftwing groups as Planned Parenthood and the Virginia Poverty Law Center Inc.

As JW has reported to you previously, serious questions have been raised about the requirements to be an Obamacare Navigator and the screening given to those who are hired. At a November 6, 2014, Senate Finance Committee hearing, former HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted to Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) that the federal government conducts no background checks on Obamacare Navigators, and it was “possible” that they could be convicted criminals. Indeed, in January 2014, it was reported that as many as 43 convicted criminals were working as Obamacare navigators in California alone.

The controversial Navigator program is not the only way the Obama administration has found to funnel money to ACORN offshoots and its corrupt former officials. As we have reported in the past, the money has flowed through various federal agencies. For instance, in 2011 a JW probe found that Obama’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded a $79,819 grant to an ACORN reincarnation called Affordable Housing Centers of America (AHCOA) to “combat housing and lending discrimination.”

A year later a separate JW probe revealed that the Obama administration gave an ACORN director named Joe McGavin nearly half a billion dollars to offer “struggling” Illinois homeowners mortgage assistance. McGavin was director of counseling for ACORN Housing in Chicago and operations manager for a Chicago ACORN offshoot called Affordable Housing Centers of America (AHCOA) shortly before getting the money. (Details of how ACORN offshoots and officials are continuing to soak up taxpayer money are available in the special JW report, “The Rebranding of ACORN”). We also have a slew of ACORN news here.

Remember, all of this occurred after Congress was forced to pass a law (Defund ACORN Act) in 2009 to stop the huge flow of taxpayer money that annually filled the corrupt organization’s coffers. The Obama administration chose to do an end run around that law. And it continues to do so today.

The recent “Crominbus” bill that funds HHS and the departments of Labor and Education once again contains specific language restricting any money from going to ACORN. “None of the funds made available under this or any other Act, or any prior Appropriations Act, may be provided to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, allied organizations, or successors,” the bill says. But, there is no reason to believe the Obama administration will abide by that law any more than they have by its predecessors. So, your JW will remain vigilant and keep you abreast of breaking developments.

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/weekly-updates/obamas-enemies-list/feed/10Judicial Watch Obtains Fast and Furious Crime Scene Photos from Phoenix 2013 Gang-Style Assault with Rifle Supplied by Obama Justice Departmenthttp://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-obtains-fast-furious-crime-scene-photos-phoenix-2013-gang-style-assault-rifle-supplied-obama-justice-department/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-obtains-fast-furious-crime-scene-photos-phoenix-2013-gang-style-assault-rifle-supplied-obama-justice-department/#commentsThu, 18 Dec 2014 18:36:39 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?post_type=press_release&p=68483Judicial Watch announced today that it has obtained graphic crime scene photos taken at the site of a 2013 gang-style assault on a Phoenix, AZ, apartment building, including a close-up photo revealing the serial number of the AK-47 rifle used by the assailants.

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it has obtained graphic crime scene photos taken at the site of a 2013 gang-style assault on a Phoenix, AZ, apartment building, including a close-up photo revealing the serial number of the AK-47 rifle used by the assailants. As a result of Judicial Watch’s October 2, 2014, public records lawsuit, the weapon has been already traced to the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) Operation Fast and Furious gunrunning program. The photos were also produced by the Phoenix Police Department in response to this lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. City of Phoenix (No. CV2014- 012018)). Full batch of photos can be viewed here.

According to press reports at the time of the assault, police investigating the shooting that left two wounded found an AK-47 assault rifle in the front passenger area of a vehicle that had crashed into a fence surrounding the apartment complex. Inside sources informed Judicial Watch at the time of the crime scene investigation that the AK-47 used in the assault had been provided to the assailants as part of the Obama-Holder Fast and Furious program. On October 16, 2014, Judicial Watch announced that, based upon information uncovered through its October 2 public records lawsuit, the U.S. Congress had confirmed that the rifle was tied to the Fast and Furious operation. Attorney General Eric Holder has already admitted that guns from the Fast and Furious scandal are expected to be used in criminal activity on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border for years to come.

In an October 16 letter to Deputy Attorney General James Cole, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Rep. Darryl Issa (R-CA) to Deputy Attorney General James Cole detail:

Based on the serial number [1977DX1654] from the police report obtained by Judicial Watch and documents obtained during our Fast and Furious investigation, we can confirm that the assault rifle recovered in the vehicle on July 30, 2013, was purchased by Sean Christopher Stewart. Stewart pled guilty to firearms trafficking charges resulting from his involvement with Operation Fast and Furious … Stewart purchased this particular firearm on December 8, 2009, one of 40 that he purchased that day while under ATF surveillance.” [Emphasis in original]

According to the Phoenix Police Department report, ATF traced the firearm on July 31, 2013, the day after Phoenix police officers recovered it. Yet, over a full year has passed, and the Department has failed to notify the Committees … This lack of transparency about the consequences of Fast and Furious undermines public confidence in law enforcement and gives the impression that the Department is seeking to suppress information and limit its exposure to public scrutiny.

In addition, despite the fact that the crime scene photos obtained by Judicial Watch clearly revealed a serial number that would show that the AK-47 used in the commission of the crime was a Fast and Furious weapon, the City of Phoenix and Department of Justice failed to turn over the incriminating photos to Congress, despite longstanding requests for such information. According to Judicial Watch sources, investigators knew at the scene and subsequently that the AK-47 was a Fast and Furious weapon.

The graphic crime scene photos include, but are not limited to, the following:

Three weeks following the July 29, 2013, assault, four suspects were apprehended in a raid conducted jointly by Phoenix police detectives and investigators from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). According to press reports at the time “numerous rifles and handguns” were found when, “Detectives from the Phoenix Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations served federal search warrants.”

The presence of DHS investigators immediately raised questions because Phoenix was the central location of the ATF’s deadly Fast and Furious gunrunning operation. Operation Fast and Furious was a Justice Department/ Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) program in which the Obama administration allowed guns to go to Mexican drug cartels in the hopes that the guns would end up at crime scenes, thereby advancing gun-control policies. Fast and Furious weapons have been implicated in the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and hundreds of other innocents in Mexico.

The failure to provide Congress with reports about the Phoenix crime scene is not the first time the Obama Justice Department has been accused of withholding Fast and Furious information. On June 28, 2012, Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt by the House of Representatives over his refusal to turn over documents about why the Obama administration may have lied to Congress and refused for months to disclose the truth about the gunrunning operation. It marked the first time in U.S. history a sitting Attorney General was held in contempt of Congress.

Separate Judicial Watch litigation for these documents, which had been subjected to an extraordinary executive privilege reelection season claim by President Obama, forced their release. Attorney General Holder announced his surprise retirement two days after the federal court ruling that led to the disclosure of the documents and to President Obama’s abandoning all of his controversial executive privilege claims that had kept the documents secret for nearly three years.

“Another Obama administration Fast and Furious cover-up has been undone by Judicial Watch. These crime scene photos graphically illustrate the legacy of President Obama and Eric Holder’s deadly Fast and Furious lies,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Even as the evidence and casualties mount, the Obama administration is still secreting information about its reckless program. These photos show the American people firsthand the bloody consequences when an out-of-control administration will not even admit – or correct – its own mistakes.”

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-obtains-fast-furious-crime-scene-photos-phoenix-2013-gang-style-assault-rifle-supplied-obama-justice-department/feed/13Sharyl Attkisson and Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No:1:14-cv-01944)http://www.judicialwatch.org/cases/sharyl-attkisson-judicial-watch-v-u-s-department-justice-no114-cv-01944/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/cases/sharyl-attkisson-judicial-watch-v-u-s-department-justice-no114-cv-01944/#commentsThu, 18 Dec 2014 17:48:34 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?post_type=docket_case&p=68481On November 19, 2014, Judicial Watch announced it joined investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson to file a Freedom of Information (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Justice (DOJ) seeking “any and all records” relating to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background checks and other records on the award-winning correspondent. The request includes correspondence between Attkisson and...

]]>On November 19, 2014, Judicial Watch announced it joined investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson to file a Freedom of Information (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Justice (DOJ) seeking “any and all records” relating to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background checks and other records on the award-winning correspondent. The request includes correspondence between Attkisson and FBI agents. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The lawsuit was filed in response to DOJ and White House targeting of the former CBS correspondent as a result of her investigations into the growing Operation Fast and Furious scandal.

The Judicial Watch/Attkisson lawsuit asks, in part, for:

“Any and all records concerned, regarding or relating to Sharyl Attkisson. Such records include, but are not limited to, records of background checks of Sharyl Attkisson, records of communications, contacts, or correspondence between Sharyl Attkisson and employees, officials or agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and records of investigations concerning or regarding Sharyl Attkisson as a victim…”

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/cases/sharyl-attkisson-judicial-watch-v-u-s-department-justice-no114-cv-01944/feed/1Judicial Watch Joins Sharyl Attkisson in Lawsuit against Justice Department to Obtain FBI Records about Attkissonhttp://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-joins-sharyl-attkisson-lawsuit-justice-department-obtain-fbi-records-attkisson/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-joins-sharyl-attkisson-lawsuit-justice-department-obtain-fbi-records-attkisson/#commentsWed, 17 Dec 2014 17:01:22 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?post_type=press_release&p=68295Judicial Watch announced today that on November 19, 2014, it joined investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson to file a Freedom of Information (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Justice (DOJ) seeking “any and all records” relating to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background checks and other records on the award-winning correspondent.

]]>Earlier FOIA records obtained by Judicial Watch show award-winning journalist was targeted by Obama White House and Justice Department over critical reporting

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that on November 19, 2014, it joined investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson to file a Freedom of Information (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Justice (DOJ) seeking “any and all records” relating to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background checks and other records on the award-winning correspondent. The request includes correspondence between Attkisson and FBI agents. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Sharyl Attkisson and Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No:1:14-cv-01944)).

According to documents obtained last month by Judicial Watch in a separate lawsuit, the DOJ and the White House targeted the former CBS correspondent as a result of her investigations into the growing Operation Fast and Furious scandal. In an October 4, 2011, email to White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz, Attorney General Eric Holder’s top press aide, Tracy Schmaler, described Attkisson as “out of control.” Schmaler added ominously, “I’m also calling Sharryl’s [sic] editor and reaching out to Scheiffer” (an apparent reference to CBS’ Chief Washington Correspondent and Face the Nation moderator Bob Scheiffer). Schultz responded, “Good. Her piece was really bad for the AG.”

The Judicial Watch/Attkisson lawsuit asks, in part, for:

“Any and all records concerned, regarding or relating to Sharyl Attkisson. Such records include, but are not limited to, records of background checks of Sharyl Attkisson, records of communications, contacts, or correspondence between Sharyl Attkisson and employees, officials or agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and records of investigations concerning or regarding Sharyl Attkisson as a victim…”

Operation Fast and Furious was a Justice Department/Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) “gun-running” operation in which the Obama administration allowed guns to go to Mexican drug cartels.

Attkisson, who in 2012 won both the Emmy and the Edward R. Murrow awards for investigative reporting, first began reporting on Fast and Furious in February 2011 when she broke the story, “Gunrunning scandal uncovered at the ATF.” Since then, she has filed more than 100 stories relating to the gunrunning debacle, many of which were exclusive reports. In her new book “Stonewalled” Attkisson reported that she had received inside information that government-related sources had hacked into both her personal and work computers over a lengthy period of time.

“We are proud to represent Sharyl Attkisson, an independent journalist, who has a demonstrated track-record of refusing to play the Washington media insiders game that covers up or covers over public corruption stories such as Fast Furious,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “We know from the emails we have already obtained that the Obama White House and the Justice Department sought to silence this courageous reporter. Now, we need to find out just how far they went.”

“I am pleased to once again partner with Judicial Watch, which is unmatched in terms of success in litigating Freedom of Information claims against the federal government, whether under Bush or Obama,” added Sharyl Attkisson. “That I’ve had to sue to get my own FBI file is concerning. This administration has a terrible record in respecting the First Amendment rights of journalists.”

The FBI FOIA lawsuit is not the first collaborative effort between Judicial Watch and Attkisson. In August 2014, Judicial Watch teamed with Attkisson file a FOIA lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services to obtain records pertaining to the failed roll-out of President Obama’s health care law.

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-joins-sharyl-attkisson-lawsuit-justice-department-obtain-fbi-records-attkisson/feed/14Judicial Watch Lawsuit Forces Release of DOJ Emails Showing IRS’s Lois Lerner Met with DOJ Officials Just Before 2010 Electionshttp://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-lawsuit-forces-release-doj-emails-showing-irss-lois-lerner-met-doj-officials-just-2010-elections/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-lawsuit-forces-release-doj-emails-showing-irss-lois-lerner-met-doj-officials-just-2010-elections/#commentsTue, 09 Dec 2014 14:07:23 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?post_type=press_release&p=66792 Judicial Watch today released internal Department of Justice (DOJ) documents revealing that former IRS official Lois Lerner had been in contact with DOJ officials about the possible criminal prosecution of tax-exempt entities two full years before what the IRS conceded was its “absolutely inappropriate” 2012 targeting of the organizations. According to the newly obtained documents, Lerner met with top Obama DOJ Election Crimes Branch officials as early as October 2010.

]]>(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released internal Department of Justice (DOJ) documents revealing that former IRS official Lois Lerner had been in contact with DOJ officials about the possible criminal prosecution of tax-exempt entities two full years before what the IRS conceded was its “absolutely inappropriate” 2012 targeting of the organizations. According to the newly obtained documents, Lerner met with top Obama DOJ Election Crimes Branch officials as early as October 2010.

The new documents were obtained through a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed against the DOJ on July 21, 2014 (Judicial Watch v. Department of Justice (No. 14-cv-01239)), after the agency failed to respond to an April 21, 2014, FOIA request seeking:

Any and all records concerning meetings and/or communications between the Department of Justice Criminal Division Public Integrity Section and the Internal Revenue Service Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division, the White House, Members of Congress and/or congressional staff, and any non-government entity, regarding 501(c)(4) or other tax-exempt organizations.

As result of a court order, the DOJ last month produced only two pages of heavily redacted emails (832 pages were withheld in entirety) that show the Obama Justice Department initiated an October 8, 2010, meeting between the IRS and top criminal prosecutors at the DOJ Public Integrity Section and Election Crimes Division “concerning 501(c)(4) issues.” On September 29, 2010, a DOJ official (whose name is blacked out) emailed a staff assistant at the IRS (whose name is also redacted):

As we discussed this afternoon, we would like to invite Ms. Ingram [apparent reference to Sarah Hall Ingram former commissioner, IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities] to meet with us concerning 501(c)(4) issues, and propose next Friday at 10:00 a.m. We are located in the Bond Building, 12th Floor, New York Avenue, NW, Thank you for your assistance.

The document shows that the unknown DOJ official setting up the meeting is with the Election Crimes Division of the Public Integrity Section of the DOJ’s Criminal Division. (Judicial Watch believes the redacted name of the DOJ official is Richard Pilger, Director of the Election Crimes Division.) The DOJ email setting up the IRS meeting is cc’d to the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section Chief, Jack Smith, and Principal Deputy Chief Raymond Hulser. The documents show that Ingram was not available but arranged for her deputy, Lois Lerner, then-Director of the IRS Exempt Organizations branch, to meet with the DOJ senior officials.

On September 30, 2010, the Election Crimes prosecutor emails Lerner:

Hi Lois-It’s been a long time, and you might not remember me, I’ve taken on [REDACTED] duties. I’m looking forward to meeting you, Can we chat in advance? I’m a [REDACTED]

Lerner responded on October 2, 2010:

Sure-that’s a good Idea [sic]. I have a meeting out of the office Monday morning, but will try you when I get back sometime early afternoon. You can try me at 202 283-8848.

The Justice Department has withheld in full at least 832 additional pages of documents, citing various “taxpayer privacy,” “deliberative privilege,” and other exemptions to keep the records secret.

Earlier this year, on April 16, 2014, Judicial Watch forced the IRS to release documents revealing that Lerner communicated with the DOJ in May of 2013 about whether it was possible to criminally prosecute targeted tax-exempt entities. The documents were obtained because of a court order in an October 2013 Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuit filed against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Those documents contained an email exchange between Lerner and Nikole C. Flax, then-Chief of Staff to then-Acting IRS Commissioner Steven T. Miller discussing plans to work with the DOJ to prosecute nonprofit groups that “lied” (Lerner’s quotation marks) about political activities. The exchange included an May 8, 2013, email by Lerner:

I got a call today from Richard Pilger Director Elections Crimes Branch at DOJ … He wanted to know who at IRS the DOJ folk s [sic] could talk to about Sen. Whitehouse idea at the hearing that DOJ could piece together false statement cases about applicants who “lied” on their 1024s –saying they weren’t planning on doing political activity, and then turning around and making large visible political expenditures. DOJ is feeling like it needs to respond, but want to talk to the right folks at IRS to see whether there are impediments from our side and what, if any damage this might do to IRS programs. I told him that sounded like we might need several folks from IRS…

Democratic Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse held a hearing on April 9, 2013, during which, “in questioning the witnesses from DOJ and IRS, Whitehouse asked why they have not prosecuted 501(c)(4) groups that have seemingly made false statements about their political activities

The House Oversight Committee followed up on these Judicial Watch disclosures with hearings and interviews of Pilger and his boss, DOJ Public Integrity Chief Jack Smith. Besides confirming the DOJ’s 2013 communications with Lerner, Pilger admitted to the Committee that DOJ officials met with Lerner in October 2010. (Department of Justice Public Integrity Section statistics show indictments and convictions of federal officials for public corruptions have dropped significantly under the Obama administration.)

According to congressional investigators, on October 5, another Lerner email shows the IRS had sent the FBI and DOJ a “1.1 million page database of information from 501(c)(4) tax exempt organizations” that contained confidential taxpayer information. (In October 2010, the IRS also stopped processing “potential political cases”).

In her May 2013 answer to a planted question, in which she admitted to the “absolutely incorrect, insensitive, and inappropriate” targeting of Tea Party and conservative groups, Lerner suggested the IRS targeting occurred due to an “uptick” in 501 (c)(4) applications to the IRS, but there had been a decrease in such applications in 2010.

“These new documents dramatically show how the Justice Department is up to its neck in the IRS scandal and can’t be trusted to investigate crimes associated with the IRS abuses that targeted Obama’s critics. And it is of particular concern that the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, which would ordinarily investigate the IRS abuses, is now implicated in the IRS crimes. No wonder the Department of Justice under Eric Holder has done no serious investigation of the Obama IRS scandal,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “It is shameful how Establishment Washington has let slide by Obama’s abuse of the IRS and the Justice Department. Only as a result of Judicial Watch’s independent investigations did the American people learn about the IRS-DOJ prosecution discussions of Obama’s political enemies and how the IRS sent, in violation of law, confidential taxpayer information to the FBI and DOJ in 2010. Richard Nixon was impeached for less.”

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-lawsuit-forces-release-doj-emails-showing-irss-lois-lerner-met-doj-officials-just-2010-elections/feed/26Judicial Watch Statement on Release of Enormous Trove of DOJ Fast and Furious Documentshttp://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-statement-release-enormous-trove-doj-fast-furious-documents/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-statement-release-enormous-trove-doj-fast-furious-documents/#commentsThu, 20 Nov 2014 21:48:46 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?post_type=press_release&p=63662 Judicial Watch announced today that it received from the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) on November 18, 2014, a large production of documents pertaining to Operation Fast and Furious. The documents were forced out of the Obama administration through a June 2012 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and subsequent September 2012 FOIA lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. Department of Justice (No. 1:12-cv-01510)).

]]>(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it received from the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) on November 18, 2014, a large production of documents pertaining to Operation Fast and Furious. The documents were forced out of the Obama administration through a June 2012 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and subsequent September 2012 FOIA lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. Department of Justice (No. 1:12-cv-01510)).

Judicial Watch’s tenacious lawsuit has led to the first public disclosure of Fast and Furious documents at the heart of the historic contempt citation against Attorney General Eric Holder. These documents, many of which are heavily blacked out, withheld for over two years by President Obama, are a road map the Obama administration’s Fast and Furious cover-up and deadly lies.

Our supporters should be proud that their contributions helped our team of lawyers and investigators break through the Obama/Holder stonewall on Fast and Furious. Our disclosures exposed as fraud Obama’s assertions of executive privilege and led to Holder’s surprise resignation. And it was because of our lawsuit that Congress finally obtained information it had sought for years on Fast and Furious.

We are posting these documents for the public to review and hope that crowd-sourcing our investigation will lead to more accountability for the Fast and Furious outrage. The documents are explosive. For instance, our initial review of the documents shows the DOJ and White House targeted then-CBS journalist Sharyl Attkisson:

On October 4, 2011, Holder’s top press aide Tracy Schmaler tells White House Deputy Press Sectary Eric Schultz, “I’m also calling Sharryl’s [sic] editor and reaching out to Scheiffer. She’s out of control”

Schultz responded, “Good. Her piece was really bad for the AG.”

Schultz also detailed to Schmaler that he was working with a journalist (Susan Davis, formerly of the National Journal) to target Rep. Darryl Issa (R-CA), the House Republican leading the charge on Fast and Furious:

“And I sent NJ’s Susan Davis your way. She’s writing on Issa/FandF and I said you could load her up on the leaks, etc.”

This one email chain implicates both the Obama White House and the Department of Justice in an effort to secretly undermine a congressional investigation and to suppress critical media reporting of the Obama administration. No wonder Obama waited until after he was safely reelected (and even after this year’s elections) to finally release this material that documents obstruction and abuse at the highest levels.

The documents show that Obama made the extraordinary assertion of executive privilege over emails between Eric Holder and his wife, Sharon Malone. The emails show that Holder sent his spouse internal DOJ emails about Fast and Furious developments. There is nothing that would have been covered by executive privilege in these or other key records that show Barack Obama abused his power to keep them secret during his reelection campaign up until now.

Our team will continue to review these documents and will continue our court fight for more information – as President Obama continues to withhold at least 5,000 records in their entirety.